A Model To Predict Human Motion During Lifting

This paper reports on a dynamic simulation model developed for biomechanical analyses of lifting activities performed in the sagittal plane. The model simulates the dynamic motion of lifting tasks for five body joints: the elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. The inputs to the model include initial and final joint postures; gender, weight, and height; weight of load; lifting height; and container dimensions. The model predicts the kinetics and kinematics for the lift. Actual motion data were collected using 10 subjects in the laboratory for 360 lifts which consisting of 12 lifting tasks including two lifting heights, two container sizes, and three weights of load. Results demonstrate that the simulation model can be an effective alternative to collecting posture and time-displacement data for lifting task analyses.